The Dark Sunset
by EldarionTelcontar
Summary: The young prince of Gondor falls in love with a young maiden of the Dunedain of the Northern Kingdom.
1. The Evendim

Cold was the morning when King Elessar and his son, Eldarion, rode up to the city of Annuminas. It was ere sunset, the orange sky and fading sun sat just above the lake, Nenuial. The chill wind blew on their faces as they entered the city through the large gates. Eldarion, now thirteen-years-old, dismounted his horse and looked around the unfamiliar place that he was someday bound to rule. It was different, yet alike to Minas Tirith, his home. He looked around at the stony walls and a chill ran down his spine. A brief shadow passed over his mind, but it quickly ended when he heard his father speak to him."You may wander around the city if you like, but be back not to late after sunset. This city is new to you and it is a great risk to have you wandering around alone in the dark."   
  
"Yes sir." He replied to his father and quickly jetted off running in the direction of the lake.  
  
  
  
The sun had just began to move its way into its bed as he arrived at the banks of the water. The sky ,now an orangy-purple color, was a breath taking sight. Never had he seen such a mesmorizing sunset in his entire life. "Tis beautiful, isn't it." He heard a soft, female voice say.  
  
Eldarion turned his head to his right and there sat a girl, no older then 12 or 13, with hair as dark as midnight. Her skin was fair and her eyes grey. He could not take his eyes off of her. Words tried to escape his mouth, but they came out in a stutter."y-y-y-yes, beautiful...er...Yeah, it is beautiful"  
  
The girl let out a soft giggle,"Never have I seen your face here in my entire life, are you new?"  
  
"Well.....sorta....Just visitng. For a month or so."   
  
"Ah...Well I forgot to introduce myself, so let me go ahead and do that now. Moruial is my name...."  
  
"Dark Sunset.....it is a beautiful name. Please do excuse my manners though. I should have been first to introduce myself. My name is er....." He was not ready to reveal who he REALLY was, yet."My name is Amrothos." Coolly, he ran his hands through his jet black hair.  
  
"Forgetting our name now are we? The more nervous you get the more I like you, and the more obvious your lies become. Better liars then you have tried to pull wool over my eyes, now please do tell me what your real name is. I know of Amrothos and you are certainly not him."  
  
A sigh escaped his lips and he shrugged his shoulders,"My name....My name...My name is Eldarion, I am son of the king."  
  
"Now we are getting somewhere." A smile spread across her face and it please Eldarion more then anything else ever had before. She grabbed his hands and pulled them into hers and opened her mouth to say something, but Eldarion was quicker.  
  
"Alas, The time has come when I must go. The sun has set and I must head home. Farewell, Dark Sunset! May our paths choose to cross again in the morrow. Meet met here ere noon, and maybe I can look upon your fair face once more." Before she could say anything back he was gone into the bitter darkness and could not be seen.  
  
  
  
The next day Eldarion went to the lake, where he had first looked upon the Dark Sunset. He waited for a moment by the banks of the water as the wind rustled his short hair. In the clear-blue sky sat a mighty sun that reflected itself down upon the water causing it to sparkle like the Elendilmir. On a high mound, not too far from where he sat, lay a single white flower. Eldarion was curious as to what it was, and why it was there, all alone. He walked over to the flower and bent to pick it up, but a gentle hand lay itself upon his shoulder, stopping him from doing so. He turned around and it was Moruial.  
  
"Do not take life away from an innocent, living thing. This is a niphredil. It was planted here by your mother, I believe. The seed is from the very hill of Cerin Amroth." Eldarion looked once again upon the fair complexion of her. She seemed ever-more beautiful than she had the night before. Her dark hair gleamed in the broad sunlight, and her fair skin looked as soft as silk. But it was not her hair, nor skin, nor any other part of her body that caught his gaze more then her glossy, grey eyes. They were unique, and stood out like a red flower in a field of white cotton. Never could he forget those eyes, even if all in life was taken from him and he was under a dark shadow never to escape back into the light. Even if all was in despair and he had nothing left to hold onto, he had the memory of her eyes, the eyes of the dark sunset. 


	2. Father and Daughter

The sun arose and it was a beautiful day in the city of Annuminas. The air was crisp and cold, but the sky was still clear. King Elessar sat in a council room with one of his chief councillors, arguing as usual, over country borders.  
  
".......We have given the Shire too much of Arnor's land! If we give them anymore pretty soon there will be no Arnor left!!" A man named Dagnir told the King. He was a well respected man. His clothes were fancy and he looked wealthy. He had dark hair,as most people in Arnor do, and his eyes were grey. He was a stubborn man, but was very well thought of in Annuminas.  
  
"Dagnir.....I assure you that the small bit of land we are donating to the Shire will make no impact on the size of Arnor." Elessar told him. He was becoming frustrated with this man. It was not that he disliekd him he was just rather annoyed.  
  
The door to the council room crept open. Eldarion entered the room, his cheeks rosy, his nose red, and his short hair a little bit rustled from the wind. He was drenched, head to toe, in water. His clothes sagged low to the ground as water dripped from his shirt and fell to the ground. Before anyone could say anything a puddle was surrounding his feet. He may have been soaking wet and unreasonably cold, but he was none the less smiling.  
  
Elessar spoke up,"Eldarion....may I ask why you are completely covered in water?"  
  
"Yeah you er..see...um....I was um.....You see I was at the lake...and...I er fell in the water?" Replied the prince.  
  
  
  
His father raised an eyebrow at him, "Well whatever happened, go change into some dry clothes." As much as the king wanted to explode laughing at his son right now, he had to fight the urge to do so infront of Dagnir.  
  
Eldarion nodded and ran into another room to change out of his wet clothes into dry ones. A few seconds after Eldarion was out of the room a knock came from the door. Elessar got up to open, and as he did a young girl stood infront of the room waiting patiently. Elessar looked at the girl in befuzzlement," Can I help you?" He asked her.  
  
There girl smiled,"I was hoping you could, m'lord. You see, that man sitting over there...." She pointed to Dagnir,"Was requested home by his wife and his daughter for supper. ANd I was just curious as to if they could have him back?"  
  
  
  
Dagnir got up and walked over to the girl. He put his hand on her shoulder,"This is my daughter, M'lord. Her name is Moruial."  
  
Elessar looked at her,"Dark sunset......tis a beautiful name. It certainly does fit her, very well. Anyways.....yes you may have him back." He smiled.  
  
Moruial and Dagnir walked out of the council together laughing and talking to each other. Smiles broad upon their faces.   
  
  
  
Eldarion walked into the room in dry clothes and saw Moruial walking with Dagnir. He didn't know it was her father, but he then saw the resemblence in the two. He dare not tell his father that he was in love with the woman. Elessar turned to Eldarion,"So tell me, really, why were you drenched in water?"  
  
Eldarion went as white as a sheet and his eyes popped open. He turned to his father and began to nervously laugh. Was he going to tell him the truth? Was he going to tell him so soon that he was in love Moruial. No, Eldarion didn't give up the fight that easily. Not yet atleast. He had to go the hard way. Quickly he told his father a lie, that he was walking on the banks of the water and tripped on a large rock in the ground. Though his father didn't believe him he let the boy get away with it, this time. And only this time. 


	3. Thoughts and Plans

Eldarion was up in his room, reading a book, when he heard a knock on the door,'Come in.' He said.  
  
The door opened as his father's figure appeared in the doorway,'Hello.' Eldarion told his father,'Whats going on? I mean, er....Is there a reason why your in here?'  
  
  
  
'I need to ask you something, and this time, tell me the truth. I know when you are lying and when you aer telling the truth, so do not try to lie to me. For it will not work.'His tone was serious as was the look on his face.'Do you know Moruial?'  
  
His body went stiff and his face went pale, but he knew he couldn't lie as his father had just made clear,'Yes....I know her.'  
  
'Are you inlove with her?' He raised an eyebrow.  
  
As much as Eldarion wanted to say no, he knew he couldn't. One he couldn't lie to his father, two he couldn't lie about his love for her,'Yes....I am inlove with her. But before you say anything else let me explain.' There was a silence for a moment and then ELdarion continued.'Ever since the moment I looked at Moruial, I have been inlove with her. The very presence of her makes me feel so happy and warm that there is no possible way I can live without her. The love I have for her is so great that I am willing to die for her. Father.....do not take me away from her. I....love her with all of my heart.'He bent his head down, his grey eyes welled up with tears.  
  
The heart of the king was touched. Never had he heard such words of meaning come from his son, not like that at least. He could see now the feelings his son had for that girl, but Eldarion was still so young. He had many years before him, it was too early for him to be inlove with a girl so much, this early in his long life. Not only did he not want this to happen, he didn't know the girl. He knew her father well, and he was a very greedy, stubborn man. Was she like this? Thoughts raced through his mind as more tears came from the eyes of his son. Slowly the king stood up and left his son to his own sorrows.  
  
  
  
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Outside of his son's room, Elessar had even more things nagging on his mind. 'How could I have let this happen? He is still so young.' He thought to himself.'What if she is like her father, just as greedy, selfish, and stubborn. I do not want him with her, not until I know her better. Oh, but Eldarion doesn't matter what I want, he won't listen to me.' He was flustered. He didn't understand how he could stop his son from loving her. 'I don't want to seem so cruel to him though, should I let them be. She seems so nice, so kind....nothing like her father. I don't want to tear Eldarion away from the one person he loves. Maybe I should leave them be...' Nothing could satisfy the king's thought. It bugged him, he couldn't stop thinking about it. What was he going to do?  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
Tears kept flowing from Eldarion's eyes as he thought more and more about Moruial. She was so beautiful. He remembered the first time they had met, how the first time he looked at her she had him under a spell. Never could he look at any girl without thinking of her ever again. He wasn't going to let his father just rip all his feelings and emotions apart. He had to get away. Away from everyone, everyone except Moruial.  
  
He looked out the window, it was a ten foot drop to the ground. Slowly, he got up from his bed and stood next to the window,'Well....here goes nothing' He sighed. He stood on the ledge, closed his eyes and jumped. 


	4. Elemmire

Eldarion walked around the city of Annuminas, guilt filled within him. He just ran away from his home. He kicked a stone around, hands in pocket, as his feet carried him where ever they wanted to go. The sun went into the now grey clouds and slowly drops of rain began to fall. Eldarion lifted the hood on his cloak around his head. The streets quickly died as people rushed inside to avoid the pouring rain. Eldarion had nowhere to go so he only continued to walk around. He came to a house with a bright light coming from the window, he looked inside and there sat a familiar face. That face belonged to the love of his life, Moruial. She was sitting at a table, with Dagnir and an older woman who looked to be her mother. She was laughing, her eyes were luminous and lit up her entire face. 'She is so beautiful when she is happy....'Eldarion thought to himself. The more he looked at her the more he wanted her. Then, something happened, Moruial turned her head and saw him staring at her through the window. He didn't know what to do.   
  
'I'll be right back....' Moruial told her family as she got up from the table. She headed near the door of her home and went outside.'Eldarion?! What are you doing here. If my father sees you he will go mad!' Moruial yelled at him.  
  
'I need to tell you something. I couldn't wait....but we need to get away from the city. Just for a few minutes. Follow me!' He left a confused Moruial standing there.  
  
'Eldarion?! Where are we going?' She raced after him. By this time they were both soaked in the pouring rain.  
  
'You'll see.....' And within a few minutes they were on the banks of Nenuial. The very place they had first met. Memories flashed through his mind, he remembered the first time he looked at her. How he could never be the same without her. Eldarion came back to reality and took in his hand, Moruial's hand. Slowly, he took her to the mound on which the single Niphredil grew.  
  
'What are you doing Eldarion?' Moruial questioned him. Rain drops trickled from her soaked face. Her eyes sparkled like stars in the heaven in which they new was far away.'Eldarion?'  
  
He sighed,'Moruial...Everytime I look at you I think of how beautiful you are. I love you. I love you more than anyother person in all of Middle-Earth. I cannot live without you. I cannot live with knowing you are alive, but I can't be with you.' He paused and grabbed both of her hands and pulled them into his as they had done when they first met.'I need to know....Do you love me as I love you. Or am I only another person in your life.'  
  
Never had Moruial heard such meaningful words, ever. She was touched, and in that very moment she realized too, that she was inlove with this boy. This man that would someday become king of her home. A smile spread across her rain soaked face,'I love you too!'   
  
He tightened his grip on her hands,'Then promise me....one day....We will wed each other. Underneath a star-filled sky, in secret?'  
  
She nodded, happiness filled through-out her body.'I promise...Never can I marry another man after meeting you.'  
  
Right after those words came from Moruial Eldarion pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear,'When I first met you and learned of your name, Moruial, I thought it fit you perfectly. Your as beautiful as the sunset that we experience every dusk on these very banks. Your hair is beautiful and dark and it would only seem to fit you, Dark Sunset. But I have thought long, and that names almost sounds shadowy and eerie. You deserve much more, a name so beautiful that it belongs to a star in the sky. A name like, Elemmire. Because you, you are my star-jewel...' No more words were said between the two on that rainy day. Tears streamed from Moruial eyes, never has she been so happy in her entire life. She too embraced Eldarion in a hug. Eldarion pulled away from her and wiped the tears from her face. He didn't say anything to her and only walked away. She knew that he would meet her here tommorow and only nodded as Eldarion walked away from her.   
  
Soon he was long out of sight, but Moruial didn't move. She sat down on the mound and stared at the lake and it's natural beauty. The sky then cleared, the rain stopped, and the sun came out from the clouds. It was getting dark and she knew that soon the sun would begin the set. Within a few minutes the sun began its descend under the horizon. It looked ominous and powerful, never had she seen the sun look so big and threatening before. Then her thoughts drifted into the words that Eldarion had spoken to her today and a warm feeling spread itself through-out her body. 'I do....' She whispered to herslef standing up. The sun was almost set and she knew she needed to head home before her family was worried, and she did so. Soon, she found herself back in the city standing infront of the door to her home. 'What in middle-earth am I going to tell them?' She thought to herself, and smile wide across her face. She opened the door, drew in a deep breath, and entered her house ready to lie to her parents or do whatever it takes to conceal the truth of what just happened. 


End file.
